Best time to start? Spring 09'

[Chance09]

I graduate college in December of 08 and am planning a thru hike starting in the spring. I was thinking about starting early march, any thoughts?

[alauver]

im graduating in dec also and plan on thru'in in 09..i think i am going to start somewhere between march 5th and the 15th

[minnesotasmith]

I graduate college in December of 08 and am planning a thru hike starting in the spring. I was thinking about starting early march, any thoughts?

You may want to consider a sooner start date. You can delay getting hit with bugs and heat, there's more room at campsites and shelters, and you have loads of time if anything goes wrong (get sick/injured, family emergency, Katahdin closes early, etc.). IMO, if you can get north of the Smokies before the rush hits, everyone is spread out (or bails) enough that odds are you'll never be thruhiker #40 that evening at a site that holds 8.

I started Feb. 14th on my 2006 thruhike, and never regretted starting that soon. I am more than likely going to make another thruhike attempt this coming year, and plan to again hit Amicalola about then. There seemed to be a slightly different group of thruhikers on the Trail then, compared to the ones I saw later. Certainly, there was a higher proportion of WhiteBlaze members among the February starters than the March ones, so you'll possibly know some people from early on. Also, I occasionally saw (much later on the Trail) a hint of clannishness among thrus based on start month (no, really). It was nice to be in the group that was considered to have "gone after it" a bit more challengingly... I did see more than several repeat thruhikers who also started in February, so it's hardly universally considered a novice's mistake to start pre-March.

You've got the issues of cold weather and the consequent neccessary gear (heavier, more specialized, and not free) to deal with, of course. As Winton Porter of the outfitter Mountain Crossings at Neel Gap put it, "There's go light, and then there's go freeze.".

IMO you'll want to bring gear for the first 500 miles along the lines of a 0-10 degree (safer if synthetic) bag, a fleece balaclava, insulated booties, glove liners, a pair of Sealskin socks, etc. You'll also likely occasionally find it useful to do weird-at-first glance things in camp like put your footwear inside your sleeping bag at night, turn your Nalgenes upside down before turning in (so any ice that forms during the night is on the bottom) or put them in your sleeping bag too if you even keep any water overnight, and so on.

OTOH, there are compensations such as no bugs for a long time (including Lyme-carrying ticks), fewer bears/raccoons/mice, ice structures of breathtaking beauty like the quarter-mile long crystal palace of frozen surface runoff/perched spring outflow I saw in the Smokies, better views with the leaves out of the way, often having footprints from the last snowfall to guide you through unclear trail sections, more reliable water sources, no bugs for a long time, and no bugs for a long time. You even get to run into SOBOs you can interrogate for information about upcoming trail sections before they get too jaded about talking to NOBOs to be helpful. ;)

Yeah, start early (bot in January; thrus starting then are crazy!) ;)

[bigcranky]

I graduate college in December of 08 and am planning a thru hike starting in the spring. I was thinking about starting early march, any thoughts?

Early March is a fairly common time to start a northbound thru-hike. You'll have plenty of company. For fewer crowds, try to start on a weekday, don't start on 3/4/09, don't start on the first day of spring, etc.

Be prepared for colder weather. Have fun.

[rafe]

Early March is fine, as long as you're prepared for a bit of snow, cold rain, and a few cold nights. Eons ago the "peak" was a few weeks later - but the peak seems to be moving backwards (toward winter) each year. Starting early (eg. in deep winter) is a game of diminishing returns, for all sorts of reasons.

[Red Hat]

In 05 I started on March 13. If I were to go NOBO again I'd start later, closer to April 1. I spent too much money in town avoiding heavy snow... but I loved hiking in light snow.

[Blissful]

Early March is a great time to start. I went March 5th, not that awfully crowded, actually. Really thins out by Harpers Ferry on up.
The weather fluctuates so much, it's hard to predict. Last year I had 70s in March in the Smokies and snow twice in April. So just be prepared for any kind of weather those two months, from low teens to 70s.

[RedneckRye]

The absolute best time to start is at 10:30am. This allows you to sleep in a bit on that first morning, have a good breakfast, take some photos on top of Springer and not feel like you are in a race to get to Katahdin. Any later of a start and you ate sure to turn into some type of non-purist-lazy-slack-packing-wanna-be. Start earlier and you will become an ultra-lite-super-huge-mile-every-single-day-geek. That is just my $.02. And as we all know, no "real" hiker would ever carry $.02. That is just useless pack weight.
If anyone needs them, I've got 2 rolls of pennies and 2 rolls of nickels that I'll trade you for a Sacajawea and 2 $2's.

[Bare Bear]

A lot of the Hiker Feeds and Trail Magic starts April 1 or later........

[trailfoot]

I graduate college in December of 08 and am planning a thru hike starting in the spring. I was thinking about starting early march, any thoughts?

Started March 1st, 2008 and it was the best time. If I had to do it over I might have left one week earlier. I wouldn't leave sooner than that. The weather was perfect in the mid to upper 50's. Then cooled to the 40's and for awhile. Even had a few teen days. Personally I like the cooler days as I'm from MI.

Suggestion--Hike fast and try and stay with spring. I hiked all the way to PA before I saw the leaves to really pop out. That was mainly because you don't go above 3,000 feet. I got to hike through VA w/o any leaves and the views were spectacular.

[Yahtzee]

A different perspective. Since you are younger, I would start in mid-April. This gives you six months. Preferably, I'd start in early May. Three reasons:

1. Avoid most of the crazy cold down south. (Hard to avoid the Smoky's cold.)
2. See Maine in the fall. No words for the beauty.
3. Generally speaking, I have found the back of the herd to be a helluva lot more fun than the front.

Just a different way to look at it. Next time I northbound, I'm not leaving til May 15th.

Good luck.